Lord Alan Sugar has responded to Ian Wright after the former footballer accused him of “f***ing foolishness”.
Earlier this week, Apprentice star Lord Sugar had criticised coverage of the Women’s Euro 2022 for not including a male commentator, before appearing to claim responsibility for Wright being added as a commentator for England’s 8-0 win over Norway on Monday (11 July).
“I was pleased to see my old mate Ian Wright was given the opportunity to commentate on the ladies game last night,” Lord Sugar tweeted. “I wonder if my earlier tweet below touched a nerve. Of course BBC sport will say not at all, Ian was already lined up for it.”
An exasperated Wright responded with a video, that quickly went viral, telling Lord Sugar his ego must be “totally out of control” if he thought Wright’s appearance at the game was because of him.
Reacting to the video on Saturday (16 July), Lord Sugar wrote: “Totally misunderstood my point and now thanks to you taking things the wrong way a media circus has erupted. Never mind you are good bloke.”
In his video, Wright had told Lord Sugar that he clearly needs “some hugs” if he is going on Twitter “for attention”.
He joked: “I hope you enjoy the tournament, can you please tweet again so I can work Friday?”
Lord Sugar reportedly paid himself £390m last year, treating himself with one of the biggest dividends in British history.
News of the pay-out came shortly after he slammed young people for “sitting around on bean bags all day” instead of working hard.
He said today’s generation preferred to spend their time “flicking elastic bands” rather than grafting to become successful.